Business

20 Nov

WhatsApp launches new AI-powered chats’ feature for beta testers

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, internationalBusiness, International

WhatsApp is reportedly all set to introduce an AI chatbot to its instant messaging platform, and the latest beta version of the app includes a special button for convenient access to the feature. As noted in the WABetaInfo report, the Chat tab now has a button above the icon to start a new chat. This button facilitates quick opening of AI-powered chats, increasing speed and convenience for users. The AI chatbot powered by Meta AI was unveiled by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of WhatsApp's parent company Meta, in September. He revealed that the company is testing AI-powered chatbots for a specific…

20 Nov

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah cuts 120 jobs

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, IndiaBusiness, india

Edtech unicorn Physicwallah let go about 120 employees after a performance review, in what comes as the first instance of layoffs at a company that earned a unicorn tag last year. "At PW, we regularly evaluate performance through mid-term and end-term cycles. For the cycle ending in October, 70 to 120 individuals—less than 0.8 percent of our workforce—with performance concerns may be asked to transfer…, ” said Satish Khengre, CHRO, PW, in a statement. Entrackr first reported the development that a cost-cutting exercise within the company had initiated layoffs. Physicswallah follows a series of other Indian edtech companies, including Byjus,…

18 Nov

IndiGo surpasses milestone of 2000 daily scheduled flights

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, IndiaBusiness, india

IndiGo is the first Indian carrier to have more than 2,000 scheduled or planned flights daily. The Rahul Bhatia-founded airline, which started flights on August 4, 2006, became the first Indian carrier in December 2017 to operate 1,000 flights a day, taking more than 11 years for the budget carrier to reach that milestone. The second 1,000 came much faster in just six years, despite the bitter feud between the airline's two founder-promoters and then Covid in this period. The airline has been able to benefit from the tailwind of the fact that India has seen a rapid recovery in…

18 Nov

Amazon.com to cut ‘several hundred’ Alexa jobs

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, BUSINESS, IndiaBusiness, india

Amazon is cutting jobs in the Alexa division and laying off "several hundred" employees. Those to be laid off will include employees working in the artificial general intelligence team. The development comes a week after the company cut jobs in music and gaming divisions as well as some human resources roles. Daniel Rausch, Amazon's vice president of Alexa and Fire TV, informed the team of the layoffs on Friday (Nov. 17). He said the company is going to focus its resources on generative AI Read his letter to employees:Team,We’re really encouraged by the progress we’re making with Alexa: customers are…

17 Nov

Google Photos gets two AI features to help organize library

Priyanka BhowmickBusinessBusiness

Google Photos, the popular gallery app used by millions worldwide, often gets new features that improve the overall user experience The tech giant is now rolling out two new AI-powered features that help reduce clutter and categorize screenshots and documents into albums. If you're someone who takes a lot of photos, your photo gallery can often be cluttered with similar images like sunsets or group photos. Google is introducing a feature called 'Photo Stacks' which aims to solve this problem. The new AI-powered feature automatically detects and groups similar photos and organizes them into piles. It also selects the top…

17 Nov

Apple To Adopt RCS Messaging For iPhone In 2024

Priyanka BhowmickBUSINESS, Business, IndiaBusiness, india

iPhone users are now set to be friends with Android users on iMessage, as Apple has announced its decision to adopt the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging standard. This move paves the way for a unified messaging experience across the platform, allowing Android users to enjoy the full suite of iMessage features. Apple made the strategic decision to integrate the RCS messaging standard into its messaging platform in response to the European Union's Digital Markets Act and regulatory pressure from competitors such as Google and Samsung, 9 to 5 Mac reported. Apple will implement the feature in late 2024 through…

16 Nov

Vedanta Group sets up new copper unit in Saudi Arabia

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, internationalBusiness

Vedanta Group on Wednesday said it has set up a new copper unit in Saudi Arabia through its subsidiary Malco Energy Ltd for SAR (Saudi Riyal) 1,00,000. The new unit has been named Vedanta Copper International VCI Company Limited, the company said in an exchange filing. In September, Vedanta's board approved a plan to split the business into six separate listed companies. On August 25, Vedanta chairman Anil Aggarwal said the group was considering listing all or some of the businesses separately based on feedback from advisers. He also said that listing different businesses separately would help in "pure play"…

16 Nov

Elon Musk denies report of Starlink IPO plans

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, IndiaBusiness, india

Elon Musk on Wednesday denied a report that his rocket company SpaceX is discussing an initial public offering (IPO) for its satellite internet business, Starlink, as soon as 2024.He called it "false" in response to a post on social media platform X that shared a Bloomberg News report that SpaceX is moving the unit's assets to a wholly-owned unit that will eventually be shut down.The billionaire entrepreneur had previously said he wanted to list Starlink when revenue growth and cash flow became smooth and predictable. Earlier this month, he said Starlink had achieved a cash-flow breakeven. SpaceX is worth an…

14 Nov

Tata Steel to scrap 800 positions in Netherlands

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, IndiaBusiness, india

Tata Steel's Dutch division said on Nov. 13 that it would cut about 800 jobs at its IJmuiden plant in an effort to boost profitability. Tata currently employs about 9,200 people in IJmuiden on the Dutch coast, 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of Amsterdam. "Despite all efforts by Tata Steel to improve its market position and reduce costs, more needs to be done," the company said in a statement. "Also in light of the transition to a cleaner company, where significant investments have been made and will be made." The restructuring would mainly affect managerial and support staff, and was…

11 Nov

Torrent Gas Ltd appoints Manoj Jain as MD

Priyanka BhowmickBusiness, BUSINESS, IndiaBusiness, india

Former GAIL (India) Ltd chairman Manoj Jain has been appointed managing director of city gas operator Torrent Gas Ltd, the company said on Thursday. The board of Torrent Gas, which has licenses for the retail sale of piped natural gas to automobiles and piped natural gas to domestic and industrial use in 34 districts across the country, has appointed Jain as its managing director with effect from January 1, 2024, the company said in a statement. Earlier, Jain was the Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL (India) Limited from February 2020 to August 2022. "Jain is a seasoned business leader…